Next time, leave a note
by Bobcat Moran
Summary: Well before the events of the first Rockman game, Blues wanders off for the first time.
1. Sunrise

_**Disclaimer**__: Blues, Dr. Light, and Dr. Wily are property of Capcom. I am not making any money off of this story, and I promise to put everything back the way I found it._

-o-o-o-

It was four-thirty A.M. when Dr. Light woke up and realized something was wrong. The hotel room was too quiet. There was some background noise which was now silent, but what could possibly be --

Oh. That would be it. The prototype was missing. Okay, now that he'd figured it out, he could get back to sleep.

Wait a minute. The prototype was missing?! Dr. Light was suddenly very wide awake. He and Dr. Wily had spent years working on that robot, and they were presenting it for the first time in public tomorrow morning. Hold on. Strike that. _This_ morning. Oh, this was not good at all.

The doctor got up as quietly as he could, trying not to disturb Dr. Wily, who was still asleep in the room's other bed, and walked over to the chair where the robot had been sitting last night. There was no sign of the prototype, except for the novel it had been reading last night, sitting on the table next to the room key. Wait. There was something wrong with that. Ah, yes. There were supposed to be two room keys. Where could the other key possibly have gone? Could the prototype have taken it and left? Hopefully that was the case. He had told the robot last night that it couldn't leave the hotel until they left for the conference, so it should still be in the building. It _had_ to still be in the building. They had run extensive testing to make sure the robot would follow the three laws of robotics, and the second one was, "A robot must obey orders given it by human beings (except where such orders would conflict with the First Law)." Well then, the robot shouldn't be that hard to find. Of course, there always was the possibility that the it had been stolen, but that seemed unlikely. He or Dr. Wily would have heard something if someone had broken into the room, wouldn't they? Dr. Light tried to push that thought from his head as he grabbed the remaining key from the table and ventured out in search of the (hopefully) runaway robot.

Forty-five minutes and twelve dead ends later, he finally found the prototype, who was staring out of a window on the top floor of the hotel. "Blues, what on earth are you doing on the twentieth floor?" he asked, referring to the robot by the nickname he had given it soon after its activation.

"Good morning, Dr. Light," the robot replied evenly, without turning around. "I am watching the sun rise. Would you care to join me?"

The scientist stared at the robot. "You're watching the sun rise?"

"Yes. I did not think you would be up this early, otherwise I would have invited you."

"You're watching the sun rise?" Dr. Light repeated.

"Yes. It is very pretty, isn't it? I like that part right over there, where it fades from pink to orange." The doctor followed the robot's gaze. It was, indeed, very pretty. Beautiful, even. Would wonders never cease, he mused. A robot who has an appreciation of aesthetics. Every day it seemed Blues was coming up with something new to surprise his creators.

Speaking of surprises . . . "Blues?"

"Yes?"

"We need to get back to the room. You shouldn't have wandered off like that."

"I have remained within the hotel, have I not?"

"Yes, but . . ."

The prototype turned around to face Dr. Light. "I did not disobey any of your orders. I was very careful to not wake you or Dr. Wily. I took a key with me so I could let myself back in with minimal disturbance. I fail to see where there is a problem."

"I woke up and didn't know where you were. For all I knew, you could have been stolen."

"Then next time I shall leave a note."

"It's not that. That's not it. You can't just, I mean . . ." Dr. Light fumbled for words under the robot's steady gaze. There was something a bit unnerving about the way it was staring at him. "You can't run off on your own."

"Why not? I have been unaccompanied for three hours and twenty-seven minutes and I am unharmed."

"You just can't."

"That is not a very compelling reason."

Dr. Light glanced at his watch. "Well, it will have to do for now. We have a big day ahead of us, and I need to get cleaned up before we go to the conference."

"All right."

-o-o-o-

_**Author's Note: **__Thanks to my little sister for reading this over and pointing out a couple of inconsistencies. I know that Blues really is more of a he than an it, but I figure that since Blues was probably one of the first humanoid, self-aware robots, most people, including Doctors Light and Wily, would have tended to think of him in terms of an inanimate object. Reviews, including constructive criticism, are very welcome. I'll do my best to review one of your fics if you review mine, but just be forewarned that I don't tend to review anything written for a fandom I'm unfamiliar with. I'm familiar with a pretty wide range of stuff, though, so don't let that deter you.  
_


	2. Sunglasses

_**Disclaimer:**_ _Blues, Dr. Thomas Light, and Dr. Albert Wily are still property of Capcom. I'm still not making any money off of this, and I promise to give Blues back his sunglasses when I'm done._

-o-o-o-

"Thomas, where on earth have you been? Do you realize that we have to be at the convention center in less than two hours?!"

"Yes, I am fully aware of what time it is. Blues decided to take a morning walk, and I had to track him down."

"Good morning, Dr. Wily."

"Don't you 'good morning' me, Prototype. What's this about taking a morning walk?"

"I wished to see the sunrise. This room faces west."

"You wanted to what?"

"I was able to see the sunset last night, and it was very nice, but I like to watch the sun rise as well."

"Thomas, are you listening to this?"

"Yes, it seems to have a sort of aesthetic taste. Wonderful, isn't it?"

"Bizarre is more like it. I could swear we didn't program it with any of that sort of thing."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. I'll have to check over our notes once we get back to the lab."

"Dr. Light, may I bring the book along to the convention?"

"No, Blues, you're going to be very busy. Leave _Harry Potter_ here."

"All right."

"Oh, Albert, we're going to have to get Blues some sunglasses."

"Sunglasses?"

"Yes, I figured out why it's so hard to make eye contact with for extended periods of time. It doesn't blink."

"Thomas, it's a robot. Of course it doesn't blink."

"I know it's never been a problem before, but the prototype is so human-like that it's unnerving to not have it blink."

"Can't we add a blinking subroutine?"

"Not in less than two hours. We need some sort of temporary fix so it doesn't weird people out when they talk to it."

"We're going to have people talk to the prototype?"

"Why not?"

"You know how unpredictable it is. It could say anything."

"I shall endeavor to be polite, if that is what you are concerned about, Dr. Wily."

"Just try not to say anything stupid."

"I shall also endeavor to be intelligent in my speech, then."

"How about I go out and get the sunglasses while you finish getting ready, Thomas?"

"Sounds good."

"May I accompany you, Dr. Wily?"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"I would like to have some input on which sunglasses I am to wear."

"You want to have some input on the sunglasses?"

"Yes. Am I not speaking clearly? You and Dr. Light seem to be repeating much of what I am saying."

"No, it's just that... oh, fine. Come on, Prototype."

**-owari-**

_Hey, do you hear that? It's that little purple button down in the corner next to Submit Review. I think it wants you to click it. If you review my story, I'll do my best to review one of yours if I'm at all familiar with the fandom it's written for.  
_


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